Kline, 090177 PAAGO, AGO 77-15

• Case Date: September 01, 1977
• Court: Pennsylvania

Honorable Caryl Kline AGO 77-15 Official Opinion No. 77-15 Pennsylvania Attorney General Opinions Opinions of the Attorney General September 1, 1977          Department of Education—Field Trip Transportation—Nonpublic School Pupils—Act 372 ofl.972—Nonsectarian, Nonpublic School Pupils          1. The United States Supreme Court has ruled that public payment for field trip transportation for sectarian school pupils is an unconstitutional violation of the separation of Church and State. Wolman v. Walter, 433 U.S. 229 (1977)          2. This decision renders Act 372 of 1972 and Attorney General Opinion 1976-35 void as regard field trip transportation for sectarian nonpublic schools.          3. Act 372 of 1972 and Attorney General Opinion 1976-35 remain in effect for nonsectarian, nonpublic school pupils.          Harrisburg, Pa. 17120 September 1,1977          Honorable Caryl Kline          Secretary of Education          Harrisburg, Pennsylvania          Dear Mrs. Kline:          On December 30, 1976, we addressed Attorney General Opinion 76-35 to your predecessor, the Honorable John C. Pittenger. That opinion answered several questions posed by Secretary Pittenger regarding the interpretation of the field trip transportation provisions of Act 372 of 1972, which amended the Public School Code of 1949, 24 P.S. § 13-1361 (hereinafter Act 372). In that opinion, we provided guidelines to enable school districts to make "identical provision" for field trip transportation for nonpublic school students. It was our intention to provide a workable definition of that statutory phrase which would be in accordance with applicable rules of law.          However, since the promulgation of that opinion, a similar field trip transportation statute in the State of Ohio has been ruled unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court, as violative of the First Amendment's doctrine of separation of Church and State. In Wolman v. Walter, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled:

Funding of field trips, therefore, must be treated as was the funding of maps and charts in Meek v. Pittinger, supra, the funding of buildings and tuition in Committee for Public Education v. Nyquist, supra, and the funding of teacher-prepared tests in Levitt v. Committee for Public Education, supra; it must be declared an impermissible direct aid to sectarian education. 433 U.S. 229, 254 (1977)

         The Ohio statute in question is substantively identical to the field trip...